Thirty-one IFEX members and 24 other organisations condemn harsh crackdown on press freedom

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(ANHRI/IFEX) - 23 October 2009 - Calling on the Moroccan government to stop the current crackdown against press freedom, 31 IFEX members and others condemn the recent arrests and harassment of journalists and independent press:

We, the undersigned organisations defending freedom of expression, call on the Moroccan government to stop the current crackdown against press freedom, which has become the most serious since King Mohamed VI was crowned in 1999.

Repression of free expression rights has been escalating for the last three months. After publishing a survey about the King's rule, two magazines, "TelQuel" and "Nichane", were confiscated in early August 2009 because they had disrespected King Mohammed VI and "violated public morality."

On 28 September, the Ministry of the Interior closed down "Akhbar al-Youm" without a court order and the newspaper's editor, Taoufik Bouachrine, and cartoonist Kalid Kadar were brought to court on charges for printing a cartoon that was considered "disrespectful of a member of the royal family."

Despite procedural violations, on 15 October 2009, a Rabat misdemeanor court sentenced Driss Chahtan, editor of "Al-Michaal" newspaper, to one year in prison for publishing articles on the King's health. He was imprisoned directly after the ruling. Rashid Mahameed and Mostafa Hiran, reporters of the same paper, were also sentenced to three months in prison and fined 5,000 dirham (US$655) each, though they have not been arrested.

In a separate case, editor Ali Anouzla and reporter Bochra Daou of the independent daily "Al-Jarida Al-Oula" are also being tried for publishing articles on the King's health and are accused of "intentionally publishing false information." The ruling on their case is scheduled for 26 October.

These trials, all directed at independent papers, demonstrate severe setbacks to freedom of expression in Morocco, which puts the press in jeopardy across the Arab region. The country was once a role model of press freedom for Arabic newspapers.

Imprisoning journalists and confiscating papers in Morocco is a violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Moroccan government is a party. Article 19 (2) reads:

Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

We condemn the politically motivated trials and the on-going harassment of journalists who are carrying out their professional duties by reporting on matters of public interest.

In solidarity with the Moroccan press, we request that the government immediately stop this crackdown against press freedom by lifting the ban on "Akhbar al-Youm", overturning the criminal cases filed against journalists and repealing legislation that allows for criminal defamation.

At least five foreign journalists were deported from Morocco after reporting on sensitive topics, such as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) issues, sex trafficking, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Authorities arrested and deported French, Dutch, and Italian reporters and placed travel bans on several Moroccan journalists, forbidding them from leaving the country and impeding their professional work.

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